It is known to provide a portable animal carrier which is of a suitable size, and appropriately constructed, to obtain airline approval for passage within the main carrier cabin. Such a portable animal carrier contains an enclosure including appropriately connected bottom, top, end, front, and rear walls, with at least one of the walls preferably including an area formed of mesh material for providing appropriate ventilation to the interior of the enclosure. At least one of the walls includes a selectively openable closure means, such as a zippered panel, which provides a sufficiently large opening for the convenient insertion and removal of the animal from within the interior volume of the enclosure. In order to facilitate manual carrying of the portable animal carrier, straps are typically secured to appropriate locations, and extend above the top wall. Such straps may include both a hand tote strap and a shoulder strap, so as to provide a versatility of to table options.
While primarily intended for transporting a cat or dog in an approved manner within an aircraft passenger cabin, it is also desirable to safely and conveniently transport the animal within the carrier while the traveler is in the passenger terminal, or en route to or from the airport. The present invention provides a plurality of straps which are suitably placed and configured to also permit the portable animal carrier to function as a backpack.